Jane Pirani Awarded Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Dance

For Jane Pirani, dance has always been entwined with family.

She grew up in the studios of The Ann Roberts School of Dance, founded by her mother in Townsville in 1957. First she was a student, then a teacher. Decades later, she would take the helm herself, carrying forward a legacy that is now approaching its 70th year.

That remarkable story has received international recognition, with Pirani awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Dance. One of the organisation’s highest honours, the Fellowship recognises exceptional service to dance and dance education across a lifetime.

Only two Fellowships were awarded worldwide this year, placing Pirani among a select group of artists and educators whose influence has reached far beyond their own careers.

It is a fitting tribute to a life lived across many corners of the dance world: as a performer, choreographer, artistic director, teacher, mentor and custodian of one of Australia’s longest-established dance schools.

Pirani’s professional journey began beyond the familiar walls of her family’s studio. She travelled to France to perform with contemporary dance company Muance, before returning home to dance professionally with North Queensland Ballet, now known as Dancenorth Australia.

Over the following four decades, she became a significant figure in Australian contemporary dance. After leading Extensions Youth Dance, Pirani served as Artistic Director of Dance North from 1997 to 2005, helping shape the company during an important period in its development.

Her choreographic work has been commissioned and presented by Queensland Ballet, Queensland Theatre Company, the New Zealand School of Dance, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland Dance School of Excellence, Central Queensland University and performing arts companies around Australia.

Yet much of Pirani’s influence can also be found in the quieter work of nurturing artists: encouraging a young dancer, giving an emerging choreographer room to experiment or building a pathway where none previously existed.

In 2006, she founded Ulysses Dancers, a performance group for dancers aged 15 to 40. The company has created opportunities for performers and choreographers to develop new ideas, present original work and continue their artistic practice beyond conventional training structures.

Pirani has also developed all five levels of the Australian Dance Academy Contemporary Syllabus, extending her contribution into studios and classrooms well beyond Townsville.

In 2005, she assumed leadership of The Ann Roberts School of Dance, continuing the work her mother had begun nearly half a century earlier. Today, the school is home to approximately 600 students, with generations of Townsville families having passed through its doors.

There is something especially poignant in Pirani receiving the Fellowship as the school prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2027. The honour belongs to a distinguished individual career, but it also reflects the accumulated work of a family, a school and a regional dance community sustained across generations.

Ann Roberts’ original vision continues in the studios she founded, now shaped by a daughter who has spent her own life expanding what dance education can offer.

For the hundreds of students currently learning there, and the many thousands who came before them, Pirani’s Fellowship is a proud and richly deserved celebration.